Learning How to Dress Like a Grown-Up

I feel blessed to currently have a relatively high powered job. I go to a lot of meetings and sometimes my opinions even mean something (rarely, actually....it's been a hard day so far). It's fun to feel like a grown-up, a real career woman. The one problem is that I'm still trying to figure out how to dress like one. Frankly, I look my age - and considering that it's a good 40 years off of most of the people I meet with, that doesn't give me a lot of credibility. So - my latest project is learning to dress, well...older.

What I should look like is to the left.

This has not been an easy task. I still gravitate towards younger pieces, with the idea of "Oh, I can wear that relaxing on Saturdays...oh, and I can probably make it work for my job too!" I end up with a lot of glorified t-shirt and black pants combinations and it's not working. I recently cleaned out my overstuffed side of the closet and ended up donating a good 3 garbage bags worth of old clothes that I haven't been wearing or that, let's be honest, I shouldn't be wearing. When Chris left for a 5 day bachelor party earlier in June (yes, it was ridiculously long), I took the opportunity to go shopping for some age and position appropriate outfits. I did...alright. I spent a lot of time at Ann Taylor Loft and Banana Republic but still only came away with one suit jacket and too many not as fancy tops. I am starting to lean more on the side of "Oh, I can wear that to work and look cute in it with jeans on Saturday" but it's been hard. I still bought two t-shirts that I have refused to return because I look how cute they are...even if I really shouldn't wear them to work (although...I have worn each already). Plus, I want to be able to look older and professional, but also still look like myself. Is being young such a bad thing??

What I actually look like is to the right (on a good day. It's cute, but young looking. I just don't like wearing suits all the time).

The other problem? When you live in Santa Barbara and are trying to look respectable at meetings with, I don't know, multi-millionaires, it gets pricey. We already have a pretty sizable clothing budget which I definitely went over last month in an attempt to look the part. Where's the balance? Since I work at a non-profit, I feel like I should get away with not looking "the part" but I am also meeting with donors who want to see in how I dress that I respect them and that we aren't a shabby place. Bottom line: I need a raise to afford my expanding work wardrobe!

Up next: The trials and tribulations of finding the perfect pair of white pants.